Personal Update- Life has a way...

Hi Everyone,
Just a disclaimer- this is a personal post with no real crafting involved so if you aren't interested in that sort of thing, carry on with your day and thank you for checking in! XO

For those interested, here's an update.

Life has a way of bringing the right people together at the right time.

Lately, life has been a bit crazy. My beautiful mom, Ruth, celebrated her 91st birthday last week.
Here is a photo of her at the DMV a couple of weeks ago. She finally decided to surrender her driver's license which was very hard for her. It made her feel sad. I am sure she liked knowing that she could jump in her car anytime and go somewhere without help. But it was time and I am proud of her for admitting it. There is so much dignity in surrendering rather than having something taken away. And it's a mature and thoughtful decision.

My mom's health has been failing lately and she really needs someone to take care of her. We talked about assisted living but she is totally against it. 

So Tom and I decided that we would sell our house and buy a different house that had a first floor bedroom and full bathroom so my mom could come and live with us. And I would take care of her.

We close on our new house on May 7th and my Mom will move in around the first week of June. I am a little nervous because I have never done this sort of thing before. But I also never took care of babies before and somehow, love helps you figure it all out.

I am moving my studio, office and craft room into my home so I can start doing videos from home as well as work on designing new products and projects. I am actually pretty excited about that!

I think it will be good. My Mom tends to eat a lot of microwave frozen foods because she can't lift her arms due to bad shoulders so I am looking forward to cooking her healthy, yummy meals. I am also looking forward to her being close by so at night I don't have to worry that she is laying on the floor with nobody to help her. (I'm thinking of adding a baby monitor into her room so I can hear her call me at night if she needs me.) I am also excited that she will be part of my every day life and the girls will get to see her whenever they come home. I know they are happy about that too. They love her so much.

Here is a photo of all of us this past Christmas in our current house. We currently live in a tiny two bedroom condo. 

This past week, we headed out to Philadelphia for a wedding. We were so excited to go because BOTH of our girls were coming in for it and it was a little bit of family time for us.

Then it hit. Poor Rina got hit with what we think was food poisoning. That was TWICE in a matter of four weeks. I guess it takes a long time to come back 100% and you are especially vulnerable to anything that a healthy person could tolerate for awhile after you have been poisoned.

So Rina spent the entire weekend in bed at the hotel and then we moved to a hotel by the airport and I stayed an additional two days with her until she was able to fly again without being sick.

We actually tried to leave and Alicia agreed to stay with her, but our flight got canceled due to weather and when we got back to the hotel, she was bad enough to want to go to the hospital.

I am so glad she is feeling better. She was so worried about not doing her Monday video. I told her it had been two weeks since I did my last video and every single one of my subscribers are the kindest people on earth and would never be upset! 

Here is a photo of Alicia from the wedding.

And here is one of Alicia and Rina together during a moment when Rina felt good enough to come down and meet a few relatives she hadn't yet met. (That lasted about 1/2 hour.)

Here is a photo of Alicia and me. (no filter, haha, just bright sun!)

And here is a photo of Tom and his brother Steve. Everyone thinks they looks like twins. :)

So like I said earlier, life has a way of bringing the right people together at the right time. I am so thankful my flight was canceled and I could be there to take Rina to the hospital. I am so thankful my mom is coming to live with us and that I can do my job from home. And I am SO thankful for your patience with me as a very behind and somewhat frazzled YouTuber.  

I know things will get better soon and the inspiration and videos will flow again. I actually postponed my new kit a couple of weeks so I can get caught up. Once I am settled into my new space, I will give you the grand tour. 

Much love and thanks to all of you for sticking by me and giving me the time to take care of my people. You all mean so much to me. XO

Hugs,

Gina K.

Gina K. Designs 2018 New Colors Blog Hop

Hi Everyone,

I am so excited today because our new colors are here! 

I first want to show you some special collections and then I have some photos to share that will show you how our new colors compare to the rest of our collection. 

All of the ink pads, ink cubes, reinkers, card stock colors, pre-cut card stock and envelopes are available in single colors packs. But we have some special collections along with one limited edition, exclusive collection.

You can get a card stock assortment that contains 3 sheets of each of the new card stock colors.

And you can also get a matching envelope assortment that contains three of each of the new envelope colors.

Also available is an ink cube collection that has eight of the 10 new ink colors. Not included are Sandy Beach and the new Jet Black Amalgam Ink. But they are available separately.

For a very limited time, we have an exclusive collection of eight of the new full size ink pads. Not included are Sandy Beach and the new Jet Black Amalgam Ink. But they are available separately as well.

All of these new colors will continue to be available as part of our regular line and no colors are currently being discontinued. 

Sandy Beach is available in ink pads, ink cubes, reinkers, card stock, pre-cut card stock and envelopes. 

Our new Amalgam Ink is available in ink pads, ink cubes and reinkers. Amalgam Ink is a new ink that works with Copic Markers, Watercolors and Colored Pencils with Gamsol and will not bleed at all! Now you can mix all three coloring types together on one project with no bleeding. And you can pre-stamp tons of images and not have to wonder which ink you used when you are ready to color them. Great for travel, this one ink will cover all the bases. It's crisp and jet black. I know you're going to love it as much as I do!

Now I'd like to show you some photos of how the new colors compare to our existing line. I have placed an asterisk next to the new colors. I did add Sandy Beach as a new color because of the new ink that coordinates with the card stock and envelopes. For Amalgam Ink, Black Onyx is a perfect match.

*Monitors vary from computer to computer so use this as a guide to see the differences between the colors rather than an exact replica of the color. On my screen, they look exactly like the card stock colors in real life.

I hope these photos are useful in helping you determine how these colors will fit into what you already have. 

All of the new products are now in the store here:

Gina K. Designs Online Store

Ink pads, cubes, and reinkers along with collections are in the What's new category. You can find all the card stock and envelope products in their regular categories. 

Today, the design team has put together a blog hop to showcase the new ink along with some of their favorite stamps!

As you hop along, please leave a comment on each of the blogs because each comment is worth a chance to win a $25 Gift Certificate to Gina K. Designs. The winner will be chosen from all the blog comments and will be announced in the Big News Category over at StampTV on Friday. 

If any of the links are broken, you can come back here to hop to the next blog! Enjoy today's inspiration:

Beth Silaika

Cathy Tidwell

Donna Idlet

Emily Schroepfer

Karen Hightower

Laurie Schmidlin

Lisa Hetrick

Melanie Muenchinger

Rema DeLeeuw

Sheri Gilson

Susie Moore

Theresa Momber

Thanks so much for joining us and Happy Stamping!

Hugs,

Gina K.

Mini Blog Hop Winners!

Thanks so much to everyone for their kind comments on our blogs and a HUGE thanks to Lydia and Jessica for hopping along with me! 
We have three winners:

From My Blog:

Debbie SelbyMarch 31, 2018 at 3:31 PM

Just ordered from your site for the first time. Great ideas and great products. Thanks

From Lydia's Blog:

Cathy MorrisMarch 30, 2018 at 11:21 AM

Love the lion and the watercolor technique . I didn't know you could do that! Love your flower cards as well. Thanks for the inspiration.

From Jessica's Blog:

Bonnie Johnson says

March 30, 2018 at 10:53 am

What a stunning card! Thank you for the clear explanation of how you created this beauty.

Please email info@ginakdesigns.com and tell them you won the Mini Blog Hop $25 gift certificate!

They will get that emailed to your right away.

Thanks to everyone who joined us on this fun hop!

Hugs,

Gina K.